I love everything about a nice warm, gooey, traditional cinnamon roll. However, I don't exactly enjoy how it makes me feel afterwards. Ya know that sugar-overload feeling? They're typically high in refined sugars, which is something I try to avoid when baking. I really wanted to have it both ways here. A sweet, traditional tasting cinnamon roll that makes me feel good after eating it. I bring you my healthy cinnamon rolls!
But first, here is a fun fact! I just very recently learned that the origin of cinnamon rolls is said to be in Sweden. In fact, they even celebrate with a Cinnamon Roll Day every year on October 4th. It was actually a day created for marketing purposes in 1999. Whatever the reason may be, you can't go wrong with celebrating cinnamon rolls!
Ingredients You'll Need
Dough
Whole wheat flour
White flour
Pure Maple Syrup
Unsweetened almond milk
Active dry yeast
Melted vegan butter
Salt
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The Filling
Medjool dates- I love this brand because they're the softest I've used! I always try to pick out the softest ones from the pack when making a date paste so that they blend even better!
Boiling water
Ground cinnamon
The filling is a smooth cinnamon date paste. It's a perfect, naturally sweet filling! Dates might be high in sugar, but they are classified as a complex carbohydrate. This means that it's low on the glycemic index. It's digested slowly, so it raises your blood sugar slowly, unlike simple carbohydrates that do the opposite. They are not only delicious and sweet-- they are nutritious!
While I LOVE my Vitamix, I found that my magic bullet blender does the BEST job for smaller jobs like blending date paste. In my Vitamix, the paste normally sits under the blades because it's a small amount. It gets it so nice and smooth with this!
The Frosting
Unsweetened plain coconut yogurt
Tapioca starch or you can use corn starch! I use this as a powdered sugar replacement. Powdered sugar is made of ground cane sugar and tapioca starch, so I make my own with tapioca starch and pure maple syrup as a healthier alternative!
Pure maple syrup
I think I really nailed the frosting. I asked my picky eater of a husband if he thinks I should change the frosting and even he suggested I keep it! Believe me, that means something coming from him!
How to Store these Healthy Cinnamon Rolls
The cinnamon rolls can be stored at room temperature, covered for about 1-2 days. After that, you can transfer them to an airtight container so that they will last a bit longer.
However, the frosting needs to stay refrigerated. You can read the notes in the recipe box down below to read about heating options. It works best to frost a warm cinnamon roll one at a time since the frosting needs kept refrigerated
Healthy Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
The Dough
- 1 cup whole wheat flour sifted
- 2 cups white all-purpose flour sifted
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup warm unsweetened almond milk about 105-110°F
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 4 tbs melted vegan butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
The Filling
- 6 medjool dates pitted
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
The Frosting
- ¼ cup unsweetened plain coconut yogurt see notes**
- ¼ cup tapioca starch or corn starch
- 1 tbs pure maple syrup
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Heat up the almond milk so that it is warm (about 100-110°F) if it's too hot it will kill the yeast
- Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl and add in the yeast and pure maple syrup. Then give it a good mix. Let the yeast proof for 8-10 minutes. You can tell it's working when the yeast gets foamy at the surface
- While that's proofing, in a separate bowl sift the flours together, mix and set aside
- After the yeast has proofed, add in the melted vegan butter and salt to the yeast mixture
- Add ½ cup of flour at a time while whisking (you likely will not need all of it, but save what's left for dusting), making sure the mixture is smooth. Once it gets too thick to continue with a whisk, I like to switch to a wooden spoon. When it begins to get too difficult to mix in the bowl, lightly dust your surface with some left over flour and begin to lightly knead it on the counter for a couple of minutes The dough will be pretty sticky! This will help make them soft and fluffy. It will stick to your hands a bit, but kneading quickly is key! If it's too sticky just add more flour by dusting some over the dough as needed
- Clean the bowl you were mixing it in and oil it. Place the dough ball in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size
The Filling
- While the dough is rising, place the pitted dates in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them soak while the dough is rising for about an hour
- After an hour, take the dates and put them in a blender. Add half of the date water and add more water in between blending. You may use all of the water depending on the size of the dates. The mixture should be smooth
- Add the cinnamon into the date paste and blend again to mix
Back to the Dough
- On a lightly floured surface (as well as a dusted rolling pin), roll the dough into a rectangle making the dough roughly ¼ inch thick
- Spread the cinnamon date paste on the dough, leaving about an inch of space on all the sides so that filling doesn't seep out
- Roll it up on the long edge side
- With a piece of plain floss or thread, slice off into about 10 rolls
- Place them in a greased cast iron skillet, preheat the oven to 350°F and let them sit on the warm oven to rise some more, about 10-15 minutes
- Pop them in the oven four about 25 minutes
- Enjoy warm, topped with frosting if desired! (see notes on frosting!)
Notes
**Note: Nutrition label is only an estimate. Amounts may vary. Label does not include frosting.**
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!